In heart surgery, extracorporeal blood circulation is performed by drawing blood from a vein (vena cava) of a patient through operation of a blood pump and, following gas-exchange in an oxygenator, returning the blood to an artery of the patient.
A bubble trap is typically arranged on the extracorporeal circuit to remove the bubbles mingled in the blood drawn. One example of a bubble trap is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,860. This bubble trap includes a housing and a filter received in the housing. The housing is provided with an inlet port through which blood enters the housing, an outlet port through which the blood in the housing exits, and a bubble outlet port connected to a gas-evacuation device for removing bubbles in the housing under vacuum.